Do you consider the Mormon Church a legitimate charity?

Is any church a legitimate charity?

In my mind, no.

Why?

Because it is a church, not a charity. It takes in a lot of dollars to supply its need and specifically the need of its clergy (think televangelists). Most of them line their own pockets first, support the costs of running the "ministry" and then, if any is left over, provide charitable contributions with a lot of fanfare.

And the bulk of Christian churches charge money for use of their building, their preacher charges money for officiating at funerals and weddings, and the list goes on and on.

Charities who are run by fund raisers typically get less than twenty cents for every dollar donated. Most of the money goes straight to the fund raisers' pockets and "costs".

So much for charities of any kind. They meet the tax requirements and that's it.

As far as religious charities go, the Mormons are probably the best of the bunch. They don't have any paid ministry and put many disabled people to work, to give them a purpose in their lives. They have warehouses of food, blankets, medicine, and other supplies ready to go anywhere in the world in response to a natural disaster. They are often first on the scene and do not bother checking to see if a recipient is a member or not. They are concerned first with the health and well-being of the people and put no conditions on receiving emergency aid in times of natural disasters.

Still, they are not a charity, even though they are heavily involved with giving humanitarian aid. They are still a church, just one of the better ones, since they do not have a paid ministry.

No. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a Church. Does it accept some charitable donations from its members? Yes, and then it uses those donations for charity. Tithing to the Church is spent on upkeep and building the Church. Donations are a separate category and is used for that purpose.

The LDS Church actually has a dual nature. There is the Church side, which is under the federal tax law as a Church. It doesn't pay any taxes on the money it receives and that money is spent on building the Church and charities. Then there is the business side of the Church. It has property, bonds and other sources of income. It spends this money on the building of non-Church things like the mall in SLC. This side of the LDS Church pays full taxes on its money, since it was not made from any donation from the members of the religious side.

Define "legitimate charity". The Mormon Church is a church, not a charity. Contributions to the church are considered charitable contributions. The church performs a lot of charitable work, more than most of not all other churches. But it is a church, not a charity.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in a way, is a charity in the sense it does charitable things. Many of our members, and churches as a whole, focus on helping local communities through service, and a lot of members donate to other charity organizations. Also, we have something known as fast offerings, where at the beginning of the month, each member is supposed to skip two meals, and then donate the money that would go towards these meals to the church, who in turn provides food for the less fortunate in the area through what is known as the Bishop's Storehouse. Obviously if you are not physically able to fast or financially able to donate, you are not obligated to do so, and donations are given in private so nobody has to know if you participated or not.

I have seen many comments about how we cannot possibly be a charity with the elegance of our temples and other such reasons. However, the construction of these buildings are possible due to tithes from the church members-- not fast offerings or otherwise. Also, no member of our Church who holds a title of religious authority profits from their position. They do their work for their churches, or the LDS Church as a whole, out of their love of God and their fellow members. Members who go on missions are not paid as well, in fact, the missionaries and their families must fund their mission themselves.

I hope this answers your question! :)

I think the idea of selflessness is inherently flawed. Everything we do in some way will have an ulterior motive. That being said I still feel that the reasons why they go with charity is too... well, seedy. Selfishness is not binary but big groups of people can definitely make it seem it.

Members of THE Church Of JESUS CHRIST Of Latter Day Saints give more money to charity more than any other group of people in the world,

and no other group of people in the world is even in the same ballpark, according to income tax returns.

For every dollar that is donated to THE Church Of JESUS CHRIST Of Latter Day Saints over one hundred hours of labor is donated. No one in THE Church Of JESUS CHRIST Of Latter Day Saints gets paid... therefor there is no overhead. No expenses.

No Locust-Like Paid Preachers eat up the substance of those who give, nor are their phony executives who make off with large sums of money that is donated (and they do that one way or another at most Charities) so that pennies on the dollars finally make it to go for something good for other people.

And those are the so-called legitimate charities.

THE Church Of JESUS CHRIST Of Latter Day Saints is the greatest most effective charitable organization in the history of world civilization. There is nothing like it in recorded history.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfx9djIqVCg

Charity is the pure love of Jesus Christ. Love is the answer, love is the way.

Members of THE Church Of JESUS CHRIST Of Latter Day Saints believe in celebrating life not the sins of the World.

http://vimeo.com/24228320

http://vimeo.com/6190108

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4cZ4p8XqRQ&feature...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sP1Aai5GVU

http://mormon.org/ Chat.

God bless.

About 27% percent is charity the rest is rleigion

@ Nous, We are required to donate to the poor, so why don't you come out of your mom's basement now.

By their own account, only about $8 per member per year goes to humanitarian causes. The rest goes to building up the church. That is about as useful as building more Walmarts - except Walmart donates more to the real needy.

LDS Inc is the biggest beef rancher in the US. It just built a 5 billion dollar shopping mall with a Tiffanys. It is the biggest foreign recipient of farm subsidies in England. The list is endless.

It's own for-profit businesses compete with real businesses who have to pay taxes. This isn't right.

What do you mean by "charity"?

If by "charity" you mean, "organization that accepts charitable donations", then "Yes".

If by "charity" you mean "organization that performs charitable works", well - in fact they do many charitable works (in the U.S., probably they are one of the largest private providers of charitable aid), but that is not their primary purpose.

So: it's a subjective call. I would never refer to them as "a charity".

- Jim, http://www.bible-reviews.com/

It's not a charity, let alone a legitimate one. It's a profit-making machine, illegitimately disguised as a religious institution.

Case in point: Can't get into their top heaven without being fully payed up at death. (I can see it now.....

God: Mr. Smith-Young, I see you missed 2 required 10% payments on the dates of 21 Oct, 1957, and 18 Jun, 2004. What have you to say for yourself that we should let you into our exclusive top heaven?

Mr. Smith-Young: Ahhhh...... If I'd been allowed my checkbook up here as expected, I'd happily repay those missed opportunities. Perhaps if I can go retrieve it?

God: Even though reluctant atheists are allowed them, there are no "do overs" for mormons! Ever heard of automatic deposit? Out you go. Next!)